Aliens: Blurring Fate
by Marusame
Summary: This is a sequel to the movie, Aliens. No, it's not Alien 3. In this story, that piece of crap movie never happened. It begins just before the end of Aliens.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One

The pristine room that housed the cryo-beds was filled with the sound of rushing air as the lids on those beds popped open. Within each, a marine lay in gently enforced slumber, which was just then wearing off.

The man known as Chance was taking his time waking up. At just a hair over six feet and about fifteen pounds shy of two hundred in weight, with his brown hair and hazel eyes, Chauncey was the perfect example of a marine. At the moment, he was blinking his eyes against the harsh light.

While the small group of marines woke up, a huge dark skinned man, six and a half feet tall and over three hundred pounds of pure muscle, walked down the length of them. Staff Sergeant Tony Mars had been awake no longer than the rest of them, but by his voice and posture, one would think he had been up for hours. Past the beds of just waking marines he strode, bellowing in his giant's voice. "WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP! This ain't the Paradise Hilton, Ladies. I want those pods empty, now! Move it move it move it!"

The response to this wake-up call was a chorus of groans. Dean Marshal, slightly taller and more built than Chance from having spent his early years on a farm, sat up and immediately knocked his head against the lid of his pod. Groaning, he held his hand to the spot he'd hit. "Oh... hell... we're still alive." Being a farm-boy at heart, Dean hated flying.

As the group stumbled out of their pods, Chance managed to duplicate Dean's stunt with the lid, banging his own head. While he rubbed that spot and cursed, his fellow marine chuckled at him. Dean made it onto his feet and stretched. "Good to see I'm not the only one who still does that."

The sole female in the small group of marines, Karen Tack, tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ears. She was an intense woman, always proving that she belonged within this team of elite soldiers. "You heard the man, let's get moving. Those colonists aren't gonna wait around forever."

Dean turned to her raising an eyebrow, and with a sardonic grin, asked, "Where're they gonna go?"

Finishing his stretch, Chance yawned and then replied. "Home."

The youngest marine in the group, Kevin Janith looked confused as he looked to the others. "Wait... I thought they were home already." Kevin was the baby of the group, having been out of training for less than a year. He had yet to see real combat, and the others constantly teased him for that. They had taken to shortening his last name and calling him Jan, just to get on his nerves.

Now, Chance looked to the younger man and sighed. Sometimes he was sure that Kevin couldn't possibly be this dense or naïve. Eventually, he spoke, motioning the other marine forward. "Just let it go..."

As they worked out the kinks from staying still for so long, Dean asked, "What's the deal here? I mean, this is a tiny group, you know?"

Cracking her wrists, Tack looked up at him. "Kinda like your balls, huh?"

Chance nodded and put his own two cents in. "That'd be a pair."

Dean rolled his eyes and began hopping from one foot to the other to work his leg muscles. "Hey, fuck you."

Snorting, Tack responded while rolling her head to crack her neck. "Not for all the money in the universe."

Dean grinned. "So you'll do it for free then? I'm open Saturday."

Chance chuckled and pulled on a shirt and pants. As a corporal, it was partially his job to keep the other few marines in good order. "Glad to see you're all awake."

Snapping his fingers, Mars pointed to the doorway. "Alright, ladies... pair off and meet up in the gym. We've got work-out before mess."

Chance nodded and looked around "You heard the man, shit 'em and

split 'em, get to the gym. You too Jan."

Rising from his stretch, Kevin scowled. "Damn, man... toldja not to call me that."

Dean chuckled softly and reached over to slap the younger man on the back. "Well he can't rightly call you pussy-boy. That'd be mean."

Raising an eyebrow, Tack spoke up before Kevin could reply. "Dean, with your record, even saying the word, 'pussy' must violate a dozen restraining orders."

Moments later, Kevin had paired up with Chance, while Tack and Dean had automatically paired up. Both grumbled at the other constantly, but the truth was that they trusted one another more than anyone else.

Later, after a lengthy work-out session, the small group gathered in the mess for what was advertised as ham. The taste made them all question this claim.

Staring at the faux-ham on his plate, Chance shook his head. "Dean, don't they raise better quality pigs where you're from?"

Looking up, Dean nodded. "Course they do. I have strong doubts as to this thing actually being a pig at some point, though."

Poking at the meat with his fork, Chance agreed. "I'd guess something gross, but I'd rather not..."

Forcing a fork-full of the meat into her own mouth and swallowing with a grimace before speaking, Tack then used the fork to poke her squad-mate in the arm. "The only pig here is you, Dean."

Dean shook his head. "Nah, I'd taste better."

Shrugging, Chance swallowed a bite of meat and made a face. "At least we know he'd be country quality, no nutrition added..." There was a long pause as he paused midway through chewing thinking about the possibilities.

Coughing, Dean shook his head. "Hey man... that's not fair..."

Putting a hand on his shoulder, Tack winked at him. "Well... at least we'd finally find a use for you."

Chance looked around. "Yeah, maybe even two. Tack might finally get the redwood out of her ass and crack a smile."

Dean leaned over and stuck his hand out to Chance, who returned the gesture and slapped the offered hand. In response to this, Tack sighed. "The smell of testosterone in here is nauseating."

Looking to her, Chance replied. "Maybe you should stop being so manly then."

Confused, as usual, Kevin protested. "But... she's a woman."

Chance just sighed once more. "And you're a boy."

Stammering for a minute, Kevin put down his fork. "I'm a man." Dean and Tack immediately spit mouthfuls of food as they broke into hysterical laughter

Chance gave him a smile and nodded "Sure Jan..."

Kevin grumbled. "Don't call me that, man... it ain't right."

Giving up and putting down his fork, Chance replied. "Neither is this ham. I've tasted spam that was more... ham like than this."

Dean agreed, poking the ham with his fork before grimacing. "Hey, I've tasted chicken that was more ham than this."

"I know I can't say the same for Dean, but I'm sure the best hunting the rest of us have done was through the grocery aisle..."

Chance looked to Dean for confirmation, but it was Kevin who spoke next. "I went fishing once."

Glancing at him, Chance asked, "You catch anything? Cold's don't count."

Kevin was silent for a moment, before admitting, "I caught a boot, but my dad caught a catfish."

Dean groaned. "Great. We'll let you know if the galaxy is threatened by evil boot-men

Thinking for a minute, Chance looked to Kevin suspiciously. "The boot wasn't yours was it?" Kevin's response was a mumble.

Chuckling again, Chance leaned away from his food, just as their leader, Lieutenant Brent Gaimen entered. Gaimen had been in the Corp for fifteen years. He wasn't tall, only five feet, eight inches, but all of him was solid muscle. He wore his slightly balding black hair in a comb over. "Alright, gentlemen... and lady... I'd like to introduce you to our newest arrival."

As the marines looked, their eyes found a woman standing behind him. She looked to be in her early twenties, with short brown hair and an angelic face.

Gaimen explained. "This is River. She's our synthetic." She received several nods and a wave from the ever-enthusiastic Kevin.

Satisfied that she'd been introduced enough, Gaimen turned. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll explain our mission."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

As the group proceeded to the tiny area of the ship which served as the meeting room, Gaimen explained. "River is part of a top secret military project. She's got tech crammed inside of her that even I'm not cleared to know about. She'll help us out planet-side.

River inclined her head. "Thank you, gay-men."

The group of marines fought valiantly to stifle laughter, though a few chuckles emerged while Gaimen coughed and corrected her. "It's uhhh... guy-mun."

Bowing slightly, the synthetic woman seemed to crack a very slight smile before answering. "I apologize."

Somewhat anxious to move on, Gaimen continued. "Anyway... as I said, River will be assisting us in this mission."

From the back of the group, Dean spoke up. "What's she gonna do, man... carry the batteries?"

Without looking at him, Gaimen began to reply. "Well, gentlemen... and lady--"

Before he could finish, Dean cut him off once more. "Hey lieutenant, why you gotta keep separating Jan out from the rest of us guys?" In retaliation, Kevin chucked a piece of cornbread at the back of his head.

The booming voice of Mars filled the small area. "Stow that shit, both of you!"

Chance agreed, somewhat more calmly. "I'm sure we have more important things for River to do. We couldn't take away the kid's only job anyways, could we Private Marshal."

After the short silence, River spoke reasonably. "Actually, I am not a pack mule. On the contrary, I am a fully capable combatant."

"Miss... errrr... River is correct. She's part of a new group of synthetics, as I said. Those limitations on violence normally placed on synthetics... she doesn't have them." Gaimen said as he ushered the group into the briefing room.

Once everyone had found a seat, he continued. "You gentlemen are the first to hear about this outside of the very top portions of the command structure. You see, you are about to enter what we call a hot combat zone. As of this time, we are entering the field under the assumption that the colony on LV426 has been wiped out, and the entire marine force sent in to rescue them was also... destroyed."

As the group looked on quizzically, Gaimen turned slightly and aimed a pointer at a blank wall. Immediately, an image appeared. It was of a being that was quite obviously not from earth. Everything from it's oversized head to its wicked looking tail seemed to say that this being was evil. After giving them a chance to react to this image, Gaimen spoke quietly. "They were destroyed by these."

Chance leaned away from the image, visibly repulsed. "The... hell is that..."

Grimly, Gaimen answered him. "This is what we call a Xenomorph. This is the fully grown version. Take a close look, people. Strong enough to knock through steel doors... its blood is acidic... claws, teeth, and a wicked tail. They can survive in the void of space. In short, they seem to be able to adapt to any environment. They do not show up on infrared, and their coloring allows them to blend into the shadows quite well. We haven't been able to locate any eyes, so we don't know how they see, or if they even do."

After peering at it idly for a moment, Chance spoke. "But they can be killed right?"

Nodding, Gaimen looked to him. "Oh yes. They can be killed. The problem isn't killing them. It's killing enough of them. They have a hive society, from what we can tell.

Chance nodded, while tapping his fingers on the tabletop "So... what scale is that?"

Gaimen answered him while looking at the image. "That is one half full size." After a slight pause, he continued. "The interesting part, is in how they breed. They need one thing to breed..." He pointed to the table. "You."

Kevin looked mortified: "Sir, I didn't do anything... I... I don't know anything about these things... I..."

Gaimen sighed. "Not you personally, Private."

Troubled, Chance crossed his arms and coughed, then leaned back with an uncomfortable sigh "Sir, If they knew about these... why did they only send 6 soldiers, a pilot, and a single synthetic?"

Gaimen answered carefully. "That's because we're not here to destroy the threat. We're here to establish a forward command structure. We'll land, send the call out, and within one standard day, this place will be crawling with the Corp."

Dean smirked and shook his head. "Situation normal... Fubar."

With a frown, Chance asked, "Is it possible that there are any survivors from the colony or the remains from the infantry?"

Gaimen nodded. "It's possible. We'll keep an eye out for them."

Nodding, Chance considered before speaking again. "Sir, permission to speak in informalities?"

After the slightest pause, Gaimen nodded. "Go ahead, Corporal. We're all friendly here."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Chance asked, "What do you mean by them needing us to breed with?"

"Right..." Gaimen coughed again. "This is for all of you. The Xenomorphs seem to be a hive society, like I said. There is a queen, who ahhh... lays the eggs. When these eggs hatch, we have something that looks like this." He aimed the remote at the wall and the image changed to that of what looked like a small, mutated squid.

"This...thing... attaches to the ahhh... face of a human being... that tail...thing... wraps around the neck. The thing seems to implant some sort of egg... because a few hours later it drops off and

dies... the subject appears fine until..." He changed the image once more, and the group was gifted with the sight of a brief video of a hospital room with a man in it... who seconds later convulsed and spasmed as some… creature burst forth from his chest.

The marines were silent for several moments. Chance stood there with his mouth half open and blinked "...You're not shitting us..."

Gaimen shook his head. "I'm afraid not. That's what we assume happened to everyone on station. The plan is simply to land, far away from the ahhh... target... and set up a base. We should have no contact with the... enemy."


	3. Chapter 3

Later, Mars paced the length of the cargo bay, shouting out orders as he went. "Git yer shit stowed, ladies. They ain't paying us no hourly wage. Move yer asses."

Baby faced Kevin looked up from his work to respond. "Moving, sir."

Incredulous, Mars took several steps towards the young marine before he was able to speak. "I didn't ask for a response son, I asked for movement, now MOVE!"

Chance just chuckled while gathering his stuff before turning to his sergeant. "Sir, how do they pay us again?"

From his spot near the dropship, Dean replied. "Apparently with watery pork."

Frowning at both of them, Mars chewed on his cigar roughly for a moment before spitting out, "I ain't here ta work out yer payment plan." He then turned on his heel and went to inspect the cargo.

Chance glanced to Dean "He's here in the event that the rest of us die and they do something like that Rambo movie from back in the

1900's right?"

Dean just shrugged. "I prefer older classics, like the ancient westerns

Looking at one of the guns in front of him, Chance replied. "I think that they would trade for one of these in a shoot out."

Wincing, Dean shook his head. "Nah, man... you don't have any idea about the classics. That thing there'd just plain ruin the whole thing."

Chance nodded and then inclined his head towards the ship. "Of course it would, but I've never been one for rules. Now go get a seat Private." Dean saluted crisply and went. Chance followed suit, and the others were just behind him.

It was then that the dropship pilot entered. Her name was Nalam, and she was a young woman not long out of pilot's school. Her raven-dark hair fell in slight curls across one side of her face, which she brushed back before speaking. "Ship's hot and ready to go."

Once everyone was situated, Lieutenant Gaimen spoke up. "Thank you, people... as I said before, we're headed for a hot combat zone. Be ready, but remember, we're staying away from the target. Keep an eye out and your guard up, but don't go shooting a survivor."

Mars turned to the youngest marine. "Private Janith, stow these grenades." He shoved a box at Kevin.

The young man blanched for a moment before taking the box. "Ahhh.. yes sir..."

Chance had pulled out a piece of gum from his pants pocket and

began chewing on it while idly listening to everyone. He now chuckled while thinking of how bad of an idea that was.

Nalim called back from the cockpit. "Hope you're all set back there... we are out of here in five... four... three... two... one... Loose!"

The ship dropped out of the carrier and headed down to the planet, shaking the whole way. They were halfway down when Kevin looked to Chance. "Ummm... sir?"

Chance looked at him "Private?" He then realized that the young man was looking past him at the box of grenades. Turning to look, Chance saw the buckle had shaken loose and the box is halfway out of its placement He immediately reached out for it "Shit..."

Kevin unbuckled himself and stood. "I got it."

Seeing this Dean, shook his head. "Jan, no..."

Sighing, Chance barked, "Private! What are you doing?"

Despite their warnings, Kevin stood, holding onto the railing to remain steady. "I got it..."

Mars found his voice and yelled. "SIT YOUR ASS DOWN!"

Before Kevin could respond, Nalim's voice came from up front. "Turbulence com--" It was at that moment that the ship hit incredible turbulence and Kevin went falling head over heels. He tumbled, reaching out and snagging hold of the buckle holding the grenade box in… ripping it off the rest of the way and sending the box flying into him as grenades bouncing out.

Chance stared blankly while having an out of body experience as he watched them bounce. "Oh...shit…"

Kevin fell, with the box on top of him as Gaimen lunged for several of the loose grenades. Dean trapped one with his foot and reached out to catch another one.

Chance finally came back to his mind and lunged against his locked in buckles to grab any of them bouncing his direction. He was too slow however, to catch one grenade that bounced past him and into the pilots compartment.

River unbuckled herself, and moving in a blur, threw herself past the

doorway, grabbed hold of Nalim and hurled both herself and the pilot into the passenger compartment, stood and finally hit the button to close the door.

A second later, the grenade exploded and the ship began nose-diving while Gaimen called out. "CRASH POSITIONS!"

Dean nodded. "Put your head between your legs and kiss your balls goodbye."

Despite the situation, Tack looked at him. "What about me?"

He shrugged. "You're fucked.

The ship, by then missing most of the pilot's compartment, nosedived into the ground. Everyone on board was jostled and thrown around as dirt and debris sprang up all over them. Before the last bit of dust had settled, each of those aboard had surrendered to unconsciousness, except for River. She paced the crash site for hours after pulling everyone out and inspecting them for damage. While the synthetic human watched the sun set, she waited for the humans to wake.

Hours later, Chance came to as Mars picked up Kevin and shook him. "WAKE UP, you little fuck." For his part, Kevin just moaned.

Chance stood and went over to them "Sgt. Sir! He was just trying to do what he thought was right!" He pulled Kevin behind him and coughed, while maintaining eye contact with his superior officer.

Mars glared at Chance and raised a finger. "Piece of Shit! I oughtta..."

Before he could finish the threat, River spoke up. "Sir, it was not his fault." She held up a strap. "The buckle for the box was sabotaged, sir. It looks cut."

Nearby, Dean looked up from the ground. "Sir, if Jan hadn't caught the box, the whole lot of those things would've bounced around and we'd all be dead."

Mars continued to glare for a minute before spitting on the ground. "Fine, everyone load up. Let's see where we stand."

For the next twenty minutes, everyone gathered the remaining equipment and sorted it. There were about thirty grenades, all of the pulse rifles, with 200 ammo for each. They also had one remote sentry, two flamers, about a dozen mines, and one smart-rifle.

Once this was sorted, River looked to Gaimen. "That's all, sir."

The lieutenant sighed heavily. "That's just perfect... what's our location?"

River looked to the sky, judged the position of the stars and then replied. "Just about one mile shy of the target zone."

Gaimen grimaced. "Shit... the nest might spread out that far..."

Nalim glanced up from her scanner. "Sir, I'm picking up a really strange signal... it looks like a ship taking off..."

Looking confused, Mars shook his head. "They wouldn't... the aliens can't..."

Gaimen interrupted him with a single word. "Survivors."

After a moment of pondering this, Mars spoke slowly. "If it's the marines... you know what they'll do to the target zone..."

Blinking, Gaimen looked at him for a second before comprehension dawned. "MOVE! GO GO GO!" He waved his hand away from the target site and began running, with the others close behind.


	4. Chapter 4

The small group of marines shot across the ground at a full sprint. They carried what equipment they were able, and ran for their lives. It seemed as though they had gone only a very short distance before River shouted a warning, and everyone dove for the ground. In the next instant, a massive explosion rocked the ground, throwing up debris and deafening them.

As the dust settled, and everyone began picking themselves up, Gaimen's voice called out. "Everyone clear?"

Chance climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. After taking a rapid head count, he responded. "Looks clear Sir."

From his spot on the ground, Kevin rolled over and pushed himself up, coughing. "Fine, here..."

Tack cracked her neck and sighed, reaching out a hand to pull Dean up. "We're clear. We're fucked, but we're clear."

Mars turned his attention to River. "Are there any structures nearby to hole up in?"

After turning in a full circle, apparently scanning the surroundings, the artificial human responded. "It appears that there is a storage facility of some kind two and a half kilometers north of here."

Cracking his knuckles, Chance looked in that direction "Hmmm…. shouldn't take too long to get there."

Nodding, Mars gave out orders.: "Spread out. Chance, you take point. Dean, you've got the rear."

They set out, and had covered about half of that distance when Kevin called out. "Sir... something just moved there." He pointed to the left, and the group looked in that direction.

After a moment of silence, Gaimen spoke. "Tack?"

The response came immediately. "Nothing on sensors, sir..."

Kevin shook his head stubbornly.: "It was there, just a second ago."

Chance raised an eyebrow and continued to look around while moving forward a couple steps

Shaking his head, Mars spoke gruffly, but quietly. "Stay cool... Tack, check it out..."

Chance sighed and let out a breath of tension, lowering his gun.

Tack moved forward, watching her motion sensor. Several tense moments passed until her voice came back. "I got nothing..." They could hear her moving around in the darkness, just beyond the range of their lights. She moved a few more steps that direction while Chance shrugged and shook his head.

Looking back at the rest of the group, Chance's eyes widened as he saw it. First he saw the teeth, covered in dripping saliva as it leaned down from its perch on the rock. It was one of those Xenomorph things, and it was about to rip Mars in half.

Without hesitating, Chance ripped his gun up to point and fired, while screaming. "MARS DUCK, SHIT!"

Fortunately, Mars's reflexes were very honed, and he ducked immediately. However, when Chance's shot hit the alien, acid sprayed out of the wound and over the man's back. Mars screamed in pain and threw himself to the ground, rolling in agony.

Chance moved over quickly, watching the screeching alien. "Someone get him out of the way." He fired once more at the thing when it looked ready to leap. It screamed and tried to lunge away but hit the ground as it was riddled with bullets.

Dean crouched over Mars, examining him. "He's okay... just burned a bit… well… a hell of a bit..

Chance nodded shook his head while looking at the body of the alien.

Having sprinted back to the group, Tack saw what had happened and muttered, "Shit…" She looked down at her sensor and cursed again. "More signatures... closing fast... a lot of them."

Lieutenant Gaimen looked at her then to Mars "Get him up. River, carry him. River nodded and picked him up. As she did so, he pointed in the direction they had been going. "Let's move."

As they moved, Gaimen gave order. "River, take Mars and keep going. Chance and Tack, keep an eye on the rear. Everyone move."

Tack: brought her pulse rifle to the ready position and watched the motion sensor while trotting backwards. Chance followed suit. The group moved out once more, with River carrying the wounded Mars.

They were about half a kilometer from the target when blips on the motion sensor appeared several kilometers away. The group hurried their pace, but they had only covered half of the remaining distance, the blips were only a kilometer and a half away.

No matter how fast they went, the signatures continued to get closer. They had just come in view of their target, which appeared to actually be a half buried ship of some kind when Mars looked back. "How close?"

Tack replied without looking. "They're right on top of us... we won't make it…" She was silent for a moment, then spoke, confusion in her voice. "Wait... The signal's all messed up... it looks like they just... disappeared."

Gaimen looked to the side. "River?"

The response was immediate. "I have detected no life forms within our immediate vicinity."

Tack held up a hand. "Wait, there's something... it's just one of them though. It's moving... erratically. Over there." She pointed to the left, while everyone sighted in on that area. "It's about... fifteen yards away. It's coming... fast." Everyone took a collective breath and strained to see through the darkness. "Wait, it's changed direction..."

A sudden noise to the right caused Kevin to snap his rifle in that direction and fire off a half dozen shots

Gaimen shouted, "CEASE FIRE, DAMNITT!"

Kevin looked abashed, and lowered his weapon. "Sorry, sir..." He continued to look around nervously.

Chance spoke in a tense voice. "Relax Private. Just keep moving your girly ass to the hold."

They had barely started moving again, when Tack spoke again. "It's in front of us... over…" She hesitated, and continued scanning. "What the hell? Are these things invisible? It just went over our heads..."

Dean shook his head. "Forget it... just go... we're almost there."

Once they arrived, Gaimen turned and watched the rear.. "Dean, open that hatch."

"Yes, sir." Dean set to work, while everyone else watched his back.

Tack swore, then looked up. "Sir, it's coming back... and if its movements are any indication... it's not happy."

Gaimen shook his head. "Forget it. River, open the door."

Moving to the door, River nodded. "Yes, sir." She walked to the door, reached out, and grasped the edges. After a moment of straining, she actually ripped the hatch off and held it to the side, waiting as everyone rushed in. She then replaced the hatch and held her hand over the seams. Her palm grew bright red and sparks could be seen as she melded the hatch to the wall. At that point, there was an awful screaming from the other side and an awful thump as something crashed into the side of the ship, partially denting the repaired hatch.


End file.
